Sliding door lock



M. M CHECK 2,956,428

SLIDING DOOR CK Filed Sept. 9, 1957 W g i Am t) ijnited States Patent SLIDING noon LOCK Mathias M. Check, Valley Forge, Pa., assignor to The Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company, Stamford, onn., a corporation of Connecticut Filed Sept. 9, 1957, Ser. No. 682,974

3 Claims. (Cl. 70-100) tion mechanism whereby to allow withdrawal of the key in a predetermined position, or positions, of the plug.

The lock of my invention is particularly adapted for use with sliding doors, and for locking a pair of bypassing sliding doors against motion relatively to one another. However, it will be appreciated that the mechanism I have conceived, and which is the subject matter of this application, may very well be used in other locking combinations as will be quite clear to those skilled in the art.

As a feature of my invention, I utilize the rotating movement of a key plug for moving a locking bolt in a direction angular to the movement of the key plug, and preferably, in a pivotal direction about a pivot that is transverse to the longitudinal axis of the key plug.

As a further feature of my invention, the pivotal movement of the locking bolt is imparted thereto by a rotating member having a lazy or lost motion connection with the key plug. Because of this construction, the key plug may rotate relatively to this rotating member, which is preferably in the form of a cam, so that the key plug may be aligned in a position in which the key thereof may be removed while leaving the key plug in either a locked or an unlocked position.

As a more particular, but extremely important feature of the invention, means are provided for maintaining the rotating member or cam in locking position to serve as a deadlock for the bolt. Thus, it is important that the cam be held so that it may not be vibrated or otherwise moved in a direction to bring the locking bolt out of locking position. As a more detailed feature of this part of my invention, the cam is maintained against motion by a spring means functioning normally to return the locking bolt from locking position. When the cam is in locking position, the spring means urges the bolt into frictional engagement with the cam to retain the cam in position to deadlock the bolt. In this manner, I am able to control the positioning of the bolt operating cam, even though it is not positively retained in locking position by the key plug, without requiring the utilization of dogging or other relatively costly and intricate means.

I have thus outlined rather broadly the more important features of my invention in order that the detailed de- 2,956,428 Patented Oct. 18, 1960 scription thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that my contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of my invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject of the claims appended hereto. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception on which my disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures for carrying out the several purposes of my invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions as do not depart from the spirit and scope of my invention, in order to prevent the appropriation of my invention by those skilled in the art.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes of illustration and description, and is shown in the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the lock of my invention mounted for locking bypassing sliding doors;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view showing portions of the lock of Fig. 1 with the bolt in unlocked position;

Fig. 3 is an end elevational view of the lock illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the lines 44 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a side elevational view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the bolt in locked position; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary top plan view illustrating portions of the lock.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to Fig. 1, there is shown a pair of bypassing sliding doors 10 and 11, a keeper or strike 12 mounted on the door 11, and a lock 1 suitably mounted in a through bore 15 in the door 10. The positioning of the parts is such that a lock bolt forming a part of the lock engages the keeper 12 and locks the doors against relative movement.

The lock generally comprises a semi-cylindrical housing 16, and a bolt 17 pivotally mounted on the housing for engagement with the strike 12. For this purpose, the housing is formed with an axial bore in which is mounted a rotatable key operated plug 19, and an upstanding bible 20 which houses a series of pin tumblers. Only a small portion of the plug is illustrated and the tumblers have not been shown since it is sufficient to know merely that the plug has a substantially rectangular tongue 21 projecting therefrom, and that the plug is operable to rotate the tongue by the usual key having access to the tumblers through a keyhole 22 at one end of the plug.

The housing 16 is further formed with a pair of rearwardly extending opposed arms 24 each of which is pierced as at 25 for reception of a shaft 26 upon which the bolt 17 is pivotally mounted.

This bolt 17 is formed with a hub 27 centrally bored as at 29 for reception of the shaft 26, and with an L-shaped shank 28 merging eccentrically with the hub and adapted to engage the strike for locking the doors 10 and 11 against relative movement. As best shown in Figs. 2 and 3, that portion of the hub 27 opposite the shank is milled to provide a flat surface 30 for a purpose which I shall presently discuss. As seen in Figs. 5 and 6, this bolt is also provided with a pair of opposed laterally extending bosses 31 abutting the sidewalls of the arms 24 for guiding movement of the bolt as it is pivoted about the shaft 26.

In order to transmit a rotary motion from the tongue 21 to the bolt 17, there is provided a cam member 32. By reason of the unique construction of this cam member, rotary movement of the tongue about its longitudinal axis is translated to rotary motion of the bolt about the shaft26, which it will be seen, is perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the tongue as shown in Fig. 2. Thus, to achieve this translation, the cam member is disposed between the'plug 19 and the bolt 17 and comprises a disc 34 having an annular flange 35 and a central aperture 36 with a duofoil contour (Fig. 4) into which the tongue extends for lazy action engagement with the side Walls thereof. This cam member is further formed with an eccentric projection 37 on its face remote from the plug. The projection has a flat surface 39, a generally pointed cam surface 40 and an outer end wall 41, all for a purpose to be discussed. Those persons skilled in the art will appreciate that by the term lazy action, 'as used in this specification, I mean a mechanical movement whereby one structural element may move a predetermined distance before imparting movement to another element. In the embodiment of my invention that I have chosen to illustrate, the lazy action construction enables the cam member 32 to be freely rotated a limited annular distance by the key plug 19 before the projection 37 imparts movement to the bolt 17 to move it into locking position. Again, after moving the bolt to locking position, the plug 19 may be rotated freely in an opposed direction to enable the key to be withdrawn.

For guiding the rotary movement of the cam member 32, the housing arms 24 have a pair of opposed'grooves 43 into which the annular flange 35 extends.

When the cam member is so disposed in operating position relative to the arms 24 and the tongue 21, and the bolt is in unlocking position as shown in Fig. 2, it will be seen that the fiat surface 39 of the projection 37 is in juxtaposed relation to the fiat surface 30 of the bolt hub 27, but in eccentric relation to the shaft 26.

To bias the bolt into unlocking position, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 6, a torsion spring 42 is supported on the shaft 26 at one side of the bolt 17. One end of the spring bears against a suitable recessed surface in the adjacent housing arm 24 and the other end bears against the bolt itself.

In operation, to move the bolt 17 into locking position, the key operated plug 19 is rotated in a direction to cause the tongue 21 to move clockwise, as viewed in Fig. 4. This motion of the tongue will, after some free or lazy motion, bring its side walls into contact with a pair of parallel walls formed by the aperture 36 in the cam mem ber 32, and will cause the cam member and its projection 37 to rotate in a clockwise direction also.

As best shown in Fig. 2, clockwise movement of the projection 37 will cause the cam surface 40 to bear against the'flat bolt surface 30 eccentrically of the shaft 26 to pivot the bolt 90 about the shaft 26 and against the action of the spring 42 to the position illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6.

At this point it should be mentioned that due to the lazy action connection between the tongue 21 and the cam member 32, the key plug may be returned 90 to its normal position in order to enable the key to be withdrawn from the lock Without returning the cam member from bolt locking position.

From the description thus far, those skilled in the art will readily understand that when in locking position, the cam member cannot be returned to its original position by vibration or jolting, since the flat surface 30 of the 4 bolt hub is urged into frictional engagement with the end wall 41 of the projection 37, by the spring 42. Thus, the cam member now serves to deadlock the bolt against rotation to unlocking position.

To return the bolt to unlocking position, the key operated plug is actuated to rotate the tongue 21 in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 4, thereby effecting counterclockwise rotation of the cam member and its projection 37. Return of the cam member to its original position enables the spring 42 to pivot the bolt in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in Figs. 2 and 5, to its original unlocking position.

Once again, due to the lazy motion connection between the key plug and the cam member, the plug may be rotated to its normal position to allow the key to be withdrawn without rotating the cam member from unlocking position.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the present invention contributes a lock wherein the rotating movement of the key plug moves the bolt in a direction angular to the movement of the key plug about a pivot which is transverse to the longitudinal axis of the plug. It will also be seen that movement of the bolt is effected through a lost orlazy motion connection with the key plug so that the key plug may be aligned for removal of the key while leaving the plug in either locking or unlocking position. It will also be appreciated that when the bolt is in locked position, the spring urges the bolt into frictional engagement with the cam member whereby the cam member projection serves as a deadlock for the bolt and is held in deadlocking position against the influence of any movement other than actuation by the key plug acting through the cam engaging tongue. 7

I believe that the construction and operation of my novel contribution will now be readily understood and that the advantages of my invention will be fully appreciated by those skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. In a lock of the class described, a housing, a bolt pivotally mounted on said housing for movement between an unlocking position and a locking position, a cam member mounted on said housing for rotation about an axis perpendicular to the pivotal axis of the bolt and engageable with said bolt to pivot said bolt into locking position when said cam member is rotated in one direction to bolt locking position, a plug member rotatably mounted on said housing, lazy action means interconnecting said plug member and said cam member whereby said plug member may be rotated freely of said cam member for a limited degree and then rotate said cam member intoand out of bolt locking position, and spring means urging said bolt into frictional engagement with said cam member to hold said cam member in bolt locking position during said free rotation of said plug member.

2. In a lock of the class described, a housing, a bolt pivotally mounted on said housing for movement between an unlocking position and a locking position, a cam member mounted on said housing for rotation about an axis perpendicular to the pivotal axis of the bolt and engageable with said bolt to pivot said bolt into locking position when said cam member is rotated in one direction to bolt locking position, a key operated plug member rotatably mounted on said housing, lazy action means interconnecting said plug member and said cam member where by said plug member may be rotated freely of said cam member for a limited, degree and then rotate said cam member into and out of bolt locking position, and spring means urging said bolt into frictional engagement with said cam member to hold said cam member in bolt locking position during said free rotation of said plug member. Y

3. In a lock of the class described, a housing, a bolt pivotally mounted onsaid housing for movement between an unlocking position and a locking position, a cam memher mounted on said housing for rotation about an axis perpendicular to the pivotal axis of the bolt and engageable with said bolt to pivot said bolt into locking position when said cam member is rotated in one direction to bolt locking position, a plug member rotatably mounted on said housing, lazy action means inter-connecting said plug member and said cam member whereby said plug member may be rotated freely of said cam member for a limited degree and then rotate said cam member into and out of bolt locking position, and a torsion spring urging said bolt into frictional engagement with said cam member to hold said cam member in bolt locking position during said free rotation of said plug member.

6 References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Mason July 17, 1906 Babekuhl ..Oct. 18, 1927 Taussig July 2, 1929 Hollerith Feb. 14, 1933 Vogt May 9, 1933 Rubner Sept. 13, 1938 Vanderveld Apr. 2, 1940 Vanderveld Sept. 7, 1948 Koeser June 14, 1949 Hillgren Oct. 14, 1958 

